Saturday 26 July 2014

my friends are all under 40 something

I kind of did things the other way around

My youth was spent with my babies and husband and only in my mid 30's did I start working on the corporate goddess in me.  Most people my age were already firmly entrenched in their careers, they had a vision while I had stumbled along and clung to whichever job that would pay me enough to feed and raise and my family.

young friends...horsing around
old enough to drink, young enough to enjoy it








Which is why my colleagues were at least 10 years younger wherever I
went, then they got younger and younger..... and some of them became really good friends.  Colleagues and ex colleagues who are my good friends who I know I can trust and should I need a helping hand, I know they will be there.  They give me advice and I do give some back....as I am supposed to be older and wiser... supposed to be..
 I never really got on with my school friends, except for a very small handful of them and they all went off and had careers and husbands and kids and we drifted apart and they are very different to who I have become. I may be 51 but the mind hasn't quite caught up yet.....

So I hang out (when I do go out) with this younger bunch of girls who keep me sane, keep me insane and young at heart.


Tuesday 22 July 2014

card carrying feminist

Its official... I am a card carrying feminist.

My card arrived in the post a few weeks ago.

What does it mean....feminism.....is it a militant movement that advocates the superiority of women?  No.  Is it lesbians all fighting for gay rights?  No.  Is it man hating sex deprived  women fighting for the right not to shave their legs and armpits and enslavement of all men..... No

So what is feminism.... what does it mean to you.....

To me it is having equal rights, freedom to be able to earn the same wage for the same job, it is being able to be head of my household, equal rights as a human being.  To not be judged by my gender.

My favourite blogger Jenny Lawson, posted this post today, there is a  Tumblr group, women against feminism photo collage thingy and I went on tumblr and took a look at some of the photos and I noticed that alot of the photos posted on why they were against feminism seemed to me to be trivial and frankly first world problems.   I wonder if these young women actually thought about what Feminism really means........
take a look at the Tumblr page  here at what they think feminism is all about....

It seems to have been lost in translation....... Feminism was about giving women the choice, the freedom to choose, the freedom to be able to go out and choose to be wives, mothers, career women, the freedom to travel without restriction or fear, the freedom to be able to earn a living any way we choose.  The freedom to have your voice heard.  The freedom to choose to have an abortion, the freedom to choose to wear what we like and not be branded sluts or accused of dressing to incite rape.
 Its not about having a man open a jar of pickles or carry the fridge for us...

I am not saying all the feminists are right, as I too believe that some factions of the feminist movement are too 'militant', and I think that some women play both cards, they say they want equal pay/rights but then on a date expect the men to pay for everything.  Like everything out there, Feminism has had its main function and purpose spread out to include every grievance imaginable.

Young women forget that the privilege of getting an education and the freedom that they now have to choose their spouse, career path, the right to vote,  was brought about because of the feminist movement so for that one young woman who put up the picture that said she didn't know one instance where the actions of the feminist movement didn't result in more destruction and violence"  let me say this.... you got an education because of the feminist movement, you got the right to be able to own a camera, phone, the ability to think, because of the feminist movement.

Yes there are several factions to the feminist movement, and you don't have to agree on all if its manifestos but don't dismiss it completely.  Its up to the 'normal' feminists to spread the word on what we believe in, that while not perfect, it  is certainly not a militant anti men establishment, if you look at it at the purest level, it is the fight to be heard as an equal,  the freedom to be equal.

I for one am a proud card carrying feminist....

Sunday 20 July 2014

what happened in London

So I am back from London after a two week "holiday" My sister had surgery to reconstruct her right foot and I volunteered to spend a couple of weeks with her, post op.
sis napping at home with her kitten

after the op 
She spent a couple of nights in hospital,  with me and her partner taking turns to be by her bedside.  I must say there is a dire shortage of nurses in London, the orthopaedic ward at Guys Hospital had brilliant nurses but they were run off their feet looking after all the people on the ward.  Anyway....
While she recovered in bed, I actually had a very relaxing time being her cook/carer/gossip buddy and occasional housekeeper.


view at 9pm
Helsinki Airport 10pm
Its been awhile since I spent a summer in  London and I seemed to have forgotten that summer in London doesn't necessarily mean warm temperatures. There were days when the mercury hit 27C  but mostly it hovered around the 18 - 22C mark, which definitely was not shorts and tank top attire for a warm blooded Singaporean.  After I left they had the hottest day of 32 C....

The other thing that fascinated me was the long days, it would be bright as day at 9pm at night which was a little confusing.....

new cast 
2 weeks post op check up...
she has an arch!
I do wish I had had more time in London to be with my sister while she recovered as she is not supposed to put any weight on her foot for 6 weeks.  For someone like her to sit still in bed and do nothing, its going to be tough...but she will have a new foot,  and walking and standing wont hurt any more.

All in it was quite a good break for me, away from the corporate bullshit and office politics and just being "mother" and looking after the people I love.
.

Thursday 3 July 2014

The end of the newspapers?

I have had my papers delivered to me for some time now and I enjoyed the fact that each morning I had the daily news waiting for me when I opened my front door at 6am.

I loved the feel of reading and flipping pages and holding that paper in my hands while I have my coffee and breakfast.
As I recycle old papers, and had the recycling people come to my door previously I could put my old papers out and have them pick up all my paper.  That ended recently and I was stuck with so much paper and no where to recycle it ( the bins they put down at the bottom of my block of flats were inadequate)  so I decided to change my subscription  to just an online subscription..........  easy..... well not quite.

standard response 
As I work during office hours (duh!!) I didnt have the time to sit around calling the customer service of the papers to change my subscription,  so I sent an email. ....  and I get the standard response ........
after tooing and froing on emails for a couple of weeks I called them to clarify everything and told them what I wanted which was a subscription for my Ipad.    So the delivery of the physical paper stopped on the 26th of June and I was supposed to get an email giving me details for my online Ipad subscription activation.......... I am still waiting.

So I sent them a polite email asking when I would get my subscription activation details.....
I got this response (after the standard response of course, and why do they assume everyone is a Sir??)  that they have assisted me in activating my account and can I try again...... really?  how did they do that and how do I try again when they never fucking sent me anything to activate any fucking account!!  So I sent them another email asking them that very question (politely without the f words of course) and of course I get the standard response again......

So for people publishing papers which communicate to people all the news of the world, they dont seem to be very capable of communicating with their subscribers.....
Will I cancel my subscription I wonder or wait this one out.

UPDATE
I received a reply informing me that I had to download an app then only could I log on......question is why the fuck didnt they tell me that from the beginning!!  so I cancelled my subscription.  cutting my nose off to spite my face i guess.....